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From a programming/hardware hacker perspective, are there any opportunities in wind generation worth exploring? Perhaps mini-turbines, or a turbine array with w

From a programming/hardware hacker perspective, are there any opportunities in wind generation worth exploring? Perhaps mini-turbines, or a turbine array with wind positioning?

morphle 9y ago
There are tremendous opportunities in renewable generation from a programming/hardware hacker perspective. Turbine and solar controllers and software, for example. We build a completely overlooked set of software and hardware devices that I think will revolutionise the field [1]. We also make secure smart meters that do accurate measurements, as none seem to exist yet that are correct and secure. There is an large number of websites and apps needed in this field. I would say we are in a similar position as the 1980's, everyone is active in this huge growth market of making proprietary networking software and hardware, almost nobody sees it will all be obsolete in a few years when the internet arrives. Our startup will be ready with the tools needed when this transition happens (in renewables). If you are interested to work on this, email merik at fiberhood.nl [1] https://metamorphresearch.org/images/FiberhoodWhitePaper0.9.pdf https://metamorphresearch.org/images/FiberhoodWhitePaper0.9....
ghaff 9y ago
There was some hype around microturbines a few years back but a lot of the ROI claims were found to be, um, "optimistic." I assume that today's PV tech makes them even less interesting even if some of the assumptions that go into pricing solar can be questionable as well.
- titojankowski 9y ago
  The great thing about renewables is everyone's situation is different. IE wind might be the #1 option in an area with little solar radiation, or micro turbines might be a better fit vs giant turbines in other areas. Major diversity in the problem space depending on geography.
- samcheng 9y ago
  Because a wind turbine is limited to the area of the swept blades, and larger turbines can reach the faster winds that occur higher off the ground, large turbines are MUCH more effective than small ones. Turbine blades that are twice as long can capture four times as much wind, and the tops of those blades capture faster wind, too. On the other hand, ignoring integration and installation costs, solar panels scale linearly with size. So small solar makes much more sense than small wind.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

From a programming/hardware hacker perspective, are there any opportunities in wind generation worth exploring? Perhaps mini-turbines, or a turbine array with wind positioning?

morphle 9y ago

There are tremendous opportunities in renewable generation from a programming/hardware hacker perspective. Turbine and solar controllers and software, for example. We build a completely overlooked set of software and hardware devices that I think will revolutionise the field [1]. We also make secure smart meters that do accurate measurements, as none seem to exist yet that are correct and secure. There is an large number of websites and apps needed in this field. I would say we are in a similar position as the 1980's, everyone is active in this huge growth market of making proprietary networking software and hardware, almost nobody sees it will all be obsolete in a few years when the internet arrives. Our startup will be ready with the tools needed when this transition happens (in renewables). If you are interested to work on this, email merik at fiberhood.nl [1] https://metamorphresearch.org/images/FiberhoodWhitePaper0.9.pdf https://metamorphresearch.org/images/FiberhoodWhitePaper0.9....

ghaff 9y ago

There was some hype around microturbines a few years back but a lot of the ROI claims were found to be, um, "optimistic." I assume that today's PV tech makes them even less interesting even if some of the assumptions that go into pricing solar can be questionable as well.

titojankowski 9y ago
The great thing about renewables is everyone's situation is different. IE wind might be the #1 option in an area with little solar radiation, or micro turbines might be a better fit vs giant turbines in other areas. Major diversity in the problem space depending on geography.
samcheng 9y ago
Because a wind turbine is limited to the area of the swept blades, and larger turbines can reach the faster winds that occur higher off the ground, large turbines are MUCH more effective than small ones. Turbine blades that are twice as long can capture four times as much wind, and the tops of those blades capture faster wind, too. On the other hand, ignoring integration and installation costs, solar panels scale linearly with size. So small solar makes much more sense than small wind.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]